Culper Ring

The Culper Ring was an American spy network established in August 1777 on the orders of General George Washington of the Continental Army. The ring's name comes from the leader Abraham Woodhull's alias "Samuel Culper, Sr.", shortened down from Washington's intended surname of "Culpeper", named for a county in his home state of Virginia. Woodhull and his friend Anna Strong communicated with Lieutenant Caleb Brewster, the courier sent by the Continentals to retrieve information; this would then be passed to Major Benjamin Tallmadge, head of Washington's intelligence, and then be passed to Washington. Woodhull had begun spying back in the autumn of 1776 when he informed Tallmadge of John Graves Simcoe's intended raid on Meigs Harbor, which he intended as a one-time delivery of information so that Simcoe would be killed before he could continue harassing Strong. However, he decided to continue fighting, and he delivered news of the Hessians' deployment in Trenton; General Charles Scott refused to pass the information on to Washington because it was from an unverified source, but Washington later replaced Scott with Tallmadge as head of intelligence. The Culper Ring would be useful as Washington and the Continentals fought against the British in the northern theater of the American Revolutionary War, operating in the Tri-State Area (New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut). Their collected information included:
 * Autumn 1776 - Major Edmund Hewlett's planned raid on Meigs Harbor, executed by Captain John Graves Simcoe and a force of 20 British regulars. The raid targeted a safe house used by the Continentals to fight against the British in New York, and Simcoe was wounded and captured, while the rest of his men were killed.
 * Autumn 1776 - John Graves Simcoe's survival and release in a prisoner exchange.
 * December 1776 - 1,500 Hessians, being rigorously drilled in the winter (when armies would typically stop training and begin quartering), would be deployed to Trenton, New Jersey. This information was burnt by General Charles Scott, but Tallmadge's knowledge of the Hessians in Trenton led to his source being verified and Scott being dismissed.
 * Spring of 1777 - Major-General Sir William Howe intended to launch a naval attack on Philadelphia after feigning moving his armies north towards Connecticut; the British troops would actually head to a fleet of 100 boats in Long Island and form an expeditionary force that would strike at Philadelphia. Washington responded to this by sending Benedict Arnold to Ridgefield, Connecticut to pretend that the Continentals were going along with Howe's plan.
 * October 1777 - HMS Eagle - Howe's flagship - and several other British warships remained in Brooklyn Harbor, although the British land forces were being reduced by Howe.
 * 17 October 1777 - The 28-gun HMS Sybil and 32-gun HMS Alarm were both stationed at Peck's Slip along with the 18-gun sloop HMS Tobago, while Howe had left behind 200 Hessians in the city as his regulars left the city. In addition, there were a dozen 24-pounders and half as many 16-pounders at Canal Street, and there were troop barges in the harbor as well.
 * October 1777 - Brigadier-General Charles Lee was a mole for the British in the Continental Army. The message to Washington, smuggled by Abigail Strong, said only, "General Lee a traitor," and it was out of context and from an unverified source; Washington disregarded the note.